00.00 Images:
Andy filling sample
Water
side testing
Samples
filled
Samples
tested
CU
Sign Geog Dept
Exts
Geog Dept
Guide Commentary: Testing water for organic
pollutants, used to be a lengthy laboratory –based process,
which could only provide an indirect measure of what was there.
Now a team of researchers from the University of Birmingham in
the West Midlands of the UK, have discovered and developed a new
technique that can provide an accurate, direct measure of organic
pollutants in river water, by studying the fluorescence they give
off. They have also helped to develop a prototype measuring
machine, that allows them for the first time to take the lab to the
riverbank, helping to quickly locate sources of
pollution.
Using ultra violet light the machine measures changes in the
fluorescence given off by the organic matter in the water samples,
and provides a direct measurement of any organic pollutants, such
as sewage, farm and landfill effluents present in the water. The
team from the University of Birmingham’s School of Geography,
Earth and Environmental Sciences conducting the research were
studying different things when they came up with the idea of using
fluorescence to measure organic pollutants.
00.57 SOT :Dr Andy Baker, Lead Investigator, University
of Birmingham School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
- “I used to work in caves I used to work in
ground waters and used to look at the fluorescence of natural
organic matter in these systems and this was coming from the soil
above the cave and we realised that natural organic matter
fluoresced when I looked in river waters I saw a completely
different finger print a different sort of fluorescence that was
present and so I had to then do further work to investigate why
that fluorescence was there where it came from and what it might
mean in terms of water quality.”
01.20 Images:
Lab sequence
Samples
into machines
Screen
readouts of finger prints
Naomi
at computer
Andy
pouring measures
Naomi
Interview
Guide Commentary: Fluorescence is used in
analysis in other industries but not widely in environmental
analysis until now, so the first thing they had to do was to
develop a series of fluorescent “fingerprints” of
different types of organic matter. By measuring the
fluorescence of different water samples, and different inputs like
effluents and soil samples they could build up a cross
referencesSystem of different plots to establish what different
organic pollutants looked like.
01.45 SOT Naomi Hudson, PHD Student, University of
Birmingham -“Fluorescence is a phenomenon
by which energy is taken in by molecules and then given out again
but at a different wavelength and in fluorescent spectroscopy we
develop these sort of plots which show us kind of a map of optical
space and through these we can see what sort of organic matter
is present and tell a little bit about it whether it is
pollution or a natural organic matter. Peaks over
this side tend to occur naturally peaks over here we tend to
classify as being related to pollution."
02.10 Images:
Pippette filled
Computer
screen images of different finger prints
Naomi
operating computer and testers
Guide Commentary: Once they had built up and
tested a fingerprint system that allowed them to quickly identify
different pollutants in water samples by their fluorescence in the
lab, they began working on the next development .
02.23 Sot Dr Andy Baker - "What we
wanted to do next was take the laboratory and move it to the river
and so the new development has been to develop a portable machine
that we could take to the river bank and we could analyse the river
samples immediately and if there is a problem we can find out what
the source is and fix it.”
02.36 Images:
Device unpacked water side
Samples
gathered
Samples
tested
Device
operated by David and Naomi
CU
Device
Guide Commentary: In partnership with a
scientific instrument company STS Ltd, they developed this
prototype device which enables them to detect and quickly identify
the source of any water pollution on location, which will be of
great benefit for environmental organisations and water companies
in monitoring water quality, and they want to develop the prototype
still further:
02.57 SOT David Ward, Director, Safe Training Systems
Ltd - “At the moment its battery operated you
can pack it up and put it under your arm ultimately it has to
change from a laboratory instrument used in the field to a truly
field designed instrument so it then will become no more than a
probe that you put in the water to make the
measurements.”
03.16 Images:
Cu Device and screen
Guide Commentary: And when it reaches that
stage, it could be used in many different areas to test the quality
and safety of water.
03.21 Dr Andy Baker - "I’m
particularly interested in disaster relief a situation where people
are very dependent on having good quality water really limited
supplies a large number of people and a potential issue for
contamination, if we can analyse the organic matter in the sample
instantaneously and actually look for any pollution issues then we
can stop that drinking water source if there is a problem and save
lives."
03.41 Images:
Reflection Andy in water as fills test tube.
Guide Commentary: So in the future it will not
merely be a laboratory you can take to the river bank, but one you
can take anywhere in the world.
03.53 Ends.
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